The present invention relates to a portable sterilizing apparatus for sterilizing and disinfecting instruments used in medical treatment, beauty care, and the like.
In the past, sterilization and disinfection have been accomplished by moving the article to be sterilized to a sterilizing apparatus in the form of a large and immovable box, and the article to be sterilized was sterilized while being housed in a sterilizing chamber of the apparatus.
In view of the foregoing, a sterilizing apparatus has been proposed which can be moved on casters, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication NO. 6-154300. A holder is provided on a doctor table and holds articles to be sterilized with a sterilizing lamp. A sterilizing lamp irradiates the article, such as a medical implement, mounted on the holder. In the sterilizing apparatus as described, it is necessary to change a size of a housing portion of the article to adjust to the size of the article. Thus, the apparatus becomes very large depending on the size of the article to be sterilized.
Further, a stand type sterilizing apparatus as disclosed in Japanese registered Utility Model Publication No. 3012680 has been proposed. A sterilizing lamp is moved to locations such as a hotel, a restaurant or the like, where an entire room requires sterilization. However, this type of sterilizing apparatus may be damaged while being moved by accidentally being bumped into walls and other objects. Further, while this apparatus includes a motion sensor, as a safety mechanism in case a person walks into the area, it is not effective in high traffic areas.